Ten consecutive hurricanes, including six major storms, stained 2017 with devastating floods in Houston, evacuation horrors in Florida, and months of darkness in Puerto Rico.

It’s different this year.

Although statistics show near normal activity as the heady days of 2018’s peak season arrive — five named storms when the average is three, two hurricanes when one is typical — the creep of an El Niño and a balm of cool water may thwart an atmospheric escalation.

Hurricanes Katia, Irma and Jose all spun simultaneously in September 2017.

But experts have characterized it so far as “classic junk” and “season of slop.”

“We’ve had five storms and nobody would probably guess that because none of them have been very significant,” said Chris Davis, a senior scientist and associate director at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. “The development’s been pushed to the margins and hasn’t had time to organize into anything intense.”

Beryl and Chris, the season’s two hurricanes, were short lived and steered clear of land. While Chris reached Category 2 strength briefly, Beryl maxed out at 80 mph and was a hurricane for just longer than a day.

Alberto, Debby and Ernesto all remained tropical or subtropical storms. Subtropical cyclones are spread out, with their strongest winds further from the center and slapdash thunderstorms that don’t always form a continuous doughnut of clouds.

Still, experts said quiet seasons can take radical turns when September arrives.